Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) has agreed to pay $4 billion for NDS, a top developer of software for digital TV. The deal actually has a $5 billion valuation when the debt is included. The transaction is also a nice outcome for News Corp (NYSE:NWS), which has a 49% ownership stake in NDS. The other owner is private equity firm Permira.

Over the past couple years, Cisco has been restructuring its operations — which has meant a stop to dealmaking. But it looks like acquisitions are getting back on track.

NDS specializes on secure delivery of video, whether through set-top boxes, PCs or smartphones/tablets. This should be a good fit with Cisco’s Videoscape platform. Keep in mind that the security space has been heating up lately. Earlier this week, Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) paid about $1.2 billion for SonicWall.